Poker lecture series moves ahead with new dates and new pros
April 7, 2009 (London, UK) – Industry leading poker magazine, Bluff Europe’s, new Poker Academy gets officially underway in Manchester at the 235 Casino on Sunday, April 26th with pros Ian Frazer and Paul “Action” Jackson on board, with Bluff Europe’s own Alex Rousso directing the proceedings.
From there, the lecture tour moves to Birmingham at the Broadway Casino on Saturday, May 9th where Rousso and Frazer will be joined by the inimitable Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott. Devilfish rejoins the tour at the next stop, in Dublin’s Sporting Emporium, on 16th May, before winding up in London’s Casino at the Empire with top US pro Phil “The Unabomber” Laak on May 23rd – an modification to the original London date of 4th April.
Alex Rousso discusses the Poker Academy on SkyPoker’s “The Club”
The Bluff Europe Poker Academy comprises a series of affordable public lectures, followed by a tournament with direct professional supervision from a pro. The first lecture series will cover some of the most crucial concepts in professional poker, such as the fundamental theory of poker, luck and supervision, dealing with defeat and bankroll management.
Master of ceremonies Alex Rousso said, “This is great opportunity for poker enthusiasts to learn to improve their games with the help of some of the best players around. We really want to challenge you to think like a professional poker player.”
Michael Caselli, editor-in-chief of Bluff Europe echoed Rousso’s enthusiasm. “I’m really excited about the pros we have involved. We’ll be announcing who they are on Monday, but let’s just say they are huge!”
Tickets cost £150 + VAT, which includes a £25 tournament buy-in. Visit www.bluffeurope.com/pokeracademy for more details.
Sunday, April 26,
Manch235ter Casino – Manchester,
Paul “Action” Jackson &
Ian “Razor” Frazer
Saturday, May 9,
The Broadway Casino, Birmingham,
Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott & Paul Jackson
Saturday, May 16,
The Sportsman, Dublin,
Devilfish
Saturday, May 23,
Casino at the Empire, London,
Phil “Unabomber” Laak
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For more information contact:
Melissa Ross
Lyceum Media
Melissa@lyceummedia.com
+44 (0) 207 976 6469
ABOUT BLUFF EUROPE
Bluff Europe is Europe’s most widely read poker publication, the largest in the UK, aimed squarely at the poker enthusiast. The magazine is distributed through European card rooms and poker clubs as well as on newsstands in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. Regular contributors include Phil Laak, Paul Jackson and a host of other poker professionals from the UK, Europe and the USA.
Bluff Europe magazine is the first magazine to be available by subscription through SMS. Poker enthusiasts in the UK can subscribe by texting POKER to 60155. Follow Bluff Europe on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BluffEurope
ABOUT ALEX RUSSO
Alex Rousso has a PhD in evolutionary psychology and has taught university undergraduates. He ran the family pickle importing business until he started making more money per hour playing poker. He now writes a column for Bluff Europe (as “Pickleman”) and can be found most days online at the PLO cash tables.
ABOUT IAN “RAZOR” FRAZER
Blink and you’ll miss it, because a few years ago Ian Frazer burst onto the scene like no man has burst before when he won not one, but two consecutive televised events. With victories in the 2005 888.com Pacific Poker Open and the 2006 Party Poker European Open, Ian was making more TV appearances than Simon Cowell, and beaming a similar level of confidence to boot.
A former kalooki and 7-card stud player from Croydon, Ian is first and foremost a businessman as the project manager of Vidette Ltd. He’s also a family man with three daughters, but still manages to find time to ambush the UK circuit where he has quickly become a fearsome competitor with numerous results including a win in the Omaha side event at the 2008 Luton GUKPT.
Also spotted alongside Jesse May in the commentary box (is there nothing this man can’t do?), 49-year old Ian credits the Devilfish for his reading skills and considers his game to be much improved from the glory days of 2005/06. Watch out world, The Raiser’s only just got started.
ABOUT PAUL “ACTION” JACKSON
“The most successful tournament player in Ladbrokes poker history and one of the most successful players in online poker history,” claims Jesse May, and few would disagree with that statement, the online moniker ‘Actionjack’ gaining legendary notoriety that only a few players possess.
A gambler of 20 years, Paul first dabbled in the house games before quitting his job as a Chartered Accountant and turning to poker full time. Equipped with a patient, plod-like style, not to mention a sharp tongue and exceedingly dry wit, Paul proved that he could perform away from the virtual felt and quickly collated an impressive set of results.
A believer in mathematics over ‘guesswork’, Paul’s moment of fame came in the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions when he fended off one of the toughest fields in poker history before falling at the hands of Ivey in 2nd for €600,000. A hand in which they bluffed and re-bluffed each other now holds iconic status, if only for displaying Paul’s “one flair move of the month”.
With two marriages and 5 kids in the bag (not to mention a fixation with Vicky Coren), Paul has certainly been a busy chap, and now juggles his playing career with his role as online manager at DTD.
ABOUT PHIL “UNABOMBER” LAAK
If you haven’t seen an image of a man doing press-ups at a WPT final table, then chances are you’ve not witnessed Phil Laak in action. Even at the felt, you might not see Laak around, he’ll be the one in the glasses with the hoodie attempting to show as little of his face to his opponent as possible. This led to him being named The Unabomber by his fellow pros because of his similarity to Theodore Kaczynski.
Laak, a former engineer, is a highly jovial person to have around the table doing many unorthodox things, he’ll often stand round the dealer to see a turn or river card as soon as is humanly possible. Though he has a WPT title to his credit, his biggest win was on these shores when he won the inaugural William Hill Grand Prix defeating Ram Vaswani, flopping a straight in the final hand to win the £150,000 first prize.
Good friends with Antonio Esfandiari and married to actress Jennifer Tilley, Laak considers his life to be perfect and couldn’t be happier.
DAVE “DEVILFISH” ULLIOTT
Devilfish is one of poker’s most recognisable and formidable characters. Nicknamed by Stephen Au-Yeung for a kind of fish that’s poisonous when ingested, he is actually Dave Ulliott of Hull, UK, a former safecracker and pawn-shop owner turned consistently successful tournament player and major poker celebrity.
Devilfish started out as a cash player, playing in private games, sometimes with the likes of Dave Colclough and John Shipley, and sometimes with the kind of people among whom it is wise to be armed. He turned to tournaments in 1993, and his achievements so far have included a WSOP bracelet in the 1997 Pot Limit Omaha event and a WPT No Limit Hold Em win in Tunica in 2003, as well as numerous other cashes – his total career winnings are in the region of $4,000,000. He is a particularly good Pot Limit Omaha player.
He also won the first series of Late Night Poker in 1999. Televised poker and Devilfish have been very good for each other. Devilfish’s amazing arrogance and tendency to say very quotable things, along with his trademark sunglasses and personalised gold knuckle dusters, make for great TV, and as a result he has become a major celebrity, with his own online card room, and even getting a mention in Eastenders.
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